YouTube reaches 50 million premium subscribers

It's been a while since YouTube revealed its total number of paid subscribers: 30 million in October 2020.

Now there's an update: YouTube now has over 50 million users that pay for YouTube Music, YouTube Premium (which includes YouTube Music), or are on a trial for YouTube Music.

The 30 million figure in October did not include people on trials, since YouTube stated at the time that once they were included, the total was 35 million.

Customers who pay for YouTube Music, customers who subscribe to YouTube Premium and receive music as part of their membership, and customers who are currently on a trial basis are all included in the 50 million statistic.

The company did not say how much money it made from subscriptions or what the average price was for users. 

The Financial Times and Bloomberg both reported the new figure, with the former citing "two persons knowledgeable on the figures" and the latter citing an interview with YouTube music executive Lyor Cohen - so the figure may be considered official. 

“The twin engine growth story is real. There are people who are prepared to pay with their eyeballs and those willing to subscribe. They are both super important,” said Cohen.

For the past decade, Google has dabbled with charging for music, cycling through various different products and names with little success.

However, the current music service's performance, which began in June 2018, implies that YouTube has finally worked out how to get many of its users to pay for music.

According to Midia Research, YouTube is the world's fastest-growing paid music provider, with approximately 8% of the world's subscribers. Spotify is far and away the best. 

(With inputs from agencies)